Fact or Foolery A true or false game - Acclaim Health
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Fact or Foolery
A true or false game
Every April Fools’ Day, the ritual is the same. Outrageously false stories (issued by a variety of
sources, such as corporations, organizations, and creative journalists) appear in the media. The
challenge for us is to sort out the April “foolery” from the weird stuff that’s actually fact.
Listed below are 30 claims that have been made in the media. Some were April Fools’ Day jokes,
and some were real news stories. Can you tell the difference?
Read each one and pause to ask the group if they think it is “fact” or “foolery.” Then reveal the
answer. If you want, organize your group into teams and make a game of it, awarding points for the
most correct answers. Print a copy of the pictures below to pass around during the activity.
1. The Spaghetti Harvest
In 1957, the British news show Panorama announced that, thanks to a very mild winter and
the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper
spaghetti crop.
(April Fools! In 1957, the respected BBC television program ran this famous hoax. They
accompanied the announcement with footage of Swiss peasants harvesting spaghetti from
trees! A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their
own spaghetti trees.)
2. Don’t Disturb the Squirrels
City officials in Cologne, Germany, imposed a new
regulation on people jogging through the city park.
Runners were required to pace themselves to go no
faster than six miles per hour. Any faster, the city officials
cautioned, could disturb the squirrels that were in the
middle of their mating season.
(April Fools! This story was perpetrated by Westdeutsche
Rundfunk, a Cologne radio station, in 1993.)
3. Corporate Tattoos
The Pepsi-Cola Company, in search of more innovative ways to reach out to young
consumers, once experimented with offering teenagers an intriguing deal. The company
sponsored teenagers to tattoo themselves with its corporate logo. In return for permanently
branding themselves, the teenagers received a 10 percent lifetime discount on the company’s
products. Teenagers were said to have responded enthusiastically to the offer.
(April Fools! This hoax report was made by “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio
in 1994.)
4. Crustless Bread
For those who just can’t stand the taste of crust and are too lazy to cut it off, Sara Lee
introduced the ultimate convenience: crustless bread. Available in stores everywhere!
(Fact. This actually was a new product by Sara Lee in 2002.)
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 1 of !1
5. The Tooth Telephone
Engineers recently unveiled the world’s first tooth telephone, perfect for those who want to
talk hands-free while on the go. When implanted into a tooth, the tiny device vibrates to let
the user know there’s a call. Users speak normally and the tiny microphone picks up their
voice. Incoming sounds are transferred to the inner ear by means of bone resonance.
(Fact. The Tooth Telephone was invented by Jimmy Loizeau and James Auger, both
researchers at MIT Media Lab Europe. It is not yet available for consumers.)
6. Chicken Manure-Powered Electrical Plant
The Mitsubishi Bank contacted venture capitalists about
an exciting new investment opportunity: Fibropower, a
14-megawatt-generating plant fueled entirely by chicken
poop. Finally, the investment prospectus boasted, they
had found a way to put unwanted chicken manure to
good use.
(Fact. In 1991, Mitsubishi Bank in London sought
investors to back a 22-million-pound loan to fund
Fibropower. Because Mitsubishi Bank publicized the
offer around April 1, many investors assumed they were
joking.)
7. Alabama Changes Value of Pi
In 1998, the Alabama state legislature voted to change the value of the mathematical
constant pi, which is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, from 3.14159 to the
Biblical value of 3.0. NASA engineers in Huntsville, Alabama, were reportedly disturbed by
the decision.
(April Fools! It was reported in the 1998 issue of New Mexicans for Science and Reason.
However, before long, it had spread throughout the Internet. The Alabama legislature
received thousands of angry calls from people who believed this story to be true. View all of
the million numbers of pi at this link.)
8. Prehistoric Penguin Murals
In 1991, prehistoric murals were discovered on the walls of an underwater cave in eastern
France. The murals revealed that penguins and man once lived side by side in that region.
Historians, accustomed to seeing prehistoric depictions of animals such as bison and deer,
were extremely surprised to find the penguins.
(Fact. The penguin murals were found in 1991 by deep-sea divers exploring a cave 7.5 miles
southeast of Marseilles.)
9. A Whopper of a Whopper
Burger King published a full-page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of
a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million left-
handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new Whopper included the same
ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.). However, the
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 2 of !2
left-handed whopper had “all condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the
weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of the condiments will skew to the left, thereby
reducing the amount of lettuce and other toppings from spilling out the right side of the
burger.”
(April Fools! This joke was perpetrated in 1998 by Jim Watkins, senior vice president for
marketing at Burger King.)
10. Vodka Bars
A Russian beverage company announced a new product designed to appeal more
specifically to Russian tastes: chewy vodka bars. The company hopes the candy bars will
compete successfully against popular Western imports such as Mars and Snickers bars. The
vodka bars will be available in lemon, coconut, and salted cucumber flavors.
(April Fools! This story was reported by the Itar-Tass Russian News Agency in 1994. In a
case of life imitating art, in 2002 a South Korean brewing company announced it had
perfected a form of chewable rice wine.)
11. Bank Teller Fees
In 1999, a Connecticut-based bank announced that, due
to rising costs, it would be forced to charge a $5 fee
every time a customer visited a live teller. The bank
promised that the fee would actually help improve the
quality of customer service.
(April Fools! It was advertised in 1999 in the Journal-
Inquirer by the Savings Bank of Rockville, a Connecticut-
based bank. Reportedly, many customers were
convinced that it was true. One woman even cancelled
her account to protest the fee.)
12. Karate Experts Collect Bus Fares
Faced with a growing number of unruly passengers, one town in Ukraine recently adopted a
unique solution: Karate-trained fare collectors. The number of passengers trying to ride
without paying was said to be down sharply since the new collectors were introduced.
(Fact. This strategy was implemented in 1993 by the city of Chernivtsy in western Ukraine,
following a number of attacks on bus inspectors.)
13. Operation Fake Tourist
Convinced that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, Sony announced a plan to hire
actors to use the company’s new camera at major tourist attractions. While posing as tourists,
the actors would ask random passersby to take their pictures. Once a passerby agreed, the
actors would speak effusively about the features of this new mobile camera from Sony.
(Fact. This was a “guerrilla marketing” tactic adopted by Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications Ltd. in 2002 to help spread the word about its new mobile phone that
doubled as a camera.)
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 3 of !3
14. Whistling Carrots
Tired of overcooking the carrots? Now there’s a solution. British scientists announced the
development of a genetically modified “whistling carrot.” Tapered air holes inside the carrot
cause it to whistle when properly cooked.
(April Fools! It was advertised by Tesco, a British supermarket chain, in a half-page
advertisement in The Sun in 2002.)
15. Carrots Reclassified as a Fruit
In 1979, officials in the European Union confirmed what many have long suspected: that
carrots are not, in fact, a vegetable but are actually a fruit. The officials urged that appropriate
reclassification should begin at once.
(Fact. Bureaucrats in the European Union did classify carrots as a fruit in a 1979 directive,
apparently because the Portuguese use carrots to make jam, and anything used to make
jam, in their eyes, must be a fruit.)
16. Purple Carrots
For those yearning to add a colorful splash to their meals, a British
supermarket announced it would soon be selling purple carrots. The
store hopes the new offering will appeal to fickle children bored by the
orange variety.
(Fact. In 2002, Sainsbury began marketing purple carrots. But carrots
have actually come in purple varieties for thousands of years. The
orange ones are the newcomers, bred to be that color in the 1500s by
Dutch growers paying homage to their royal family, the House of
Orange.)
17. Shark Breeding Experiment
In 1981, the National Biological Foundation released 2,000 radio-tagged sharks (including
blue sharks, hammerheads, and a few great whites) into selected Michigan lakes in order to
study the cold-water breeding habits of the sharks. In the press release announcing the
experiment, the foundation suggested that local fishermen and swimmers should exercise
caution around the sharks.
(April Fools! This story was reported by the Herald-News in Roscommon, Michigan, in 1981.)
18. The Interfering Brassieres
The British Daily Mail published an article claiming that 10,000 brassieres made by a local
manufacturer had developed a serious problem. The support wire in the bras had been
fashioned out of specially treated copper. This copper wire originally had been designed for
use in fire alarms, but when it came into contact with nylon and body heat, it was producing
static electricity. This static electricity, in turn, was being emitted by thousands of
unsuspecting women and was interfering with broadcast television signals. As the article put
it, “Widespread television interference, which has brought complaints from viewers all over
Britain in recent weeks, is being caused not by unusual atmospheric conditions, but by
10,000 ‘rogue’ bras.”
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 4 of !4
(April Fools! Perpetrated in 1987, many people believed the article—including, apparently, the
chief engineer of British Telecom. Upon reading this report, he reportedly ordered all female
laboratory employees to disclose what type of bra they were wearing.)
19. The Poweriser
A British newspaper highlighted a new invention: the Poweriser. Essentially, it is a pair of
springy stilts that strap on to your calves and, once you’ve got the hang of the correct rocking
motion, allow you to leap forward around five meters and vertically about two meters with a
single bound.
(Fact. The article appeared in The Independent in 2006. You can now purchase a Poweriser
for yourself, new from around $200 to $400.)
20. Color Television
In 1962, there was only one TV channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The
station’s technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to
newly developed technology, all viewers could now quickly and easily convert their existing
sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV
screen, and they would begin to see their favorite shows in color. Stensson then proceeded
to demonstrate the process.
(April Fools! Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of people, out of the population of seven
million, were taken in. Color TV transmission actually commenced in Sweden on April 1,
1970.)
21. For the Birds
In Ireland, a cat made it into the local newspapers when she decided the best place to give
birth to her four baby kittens would be in a nearby bird’s nest. It is believed a pair of wood
pigeons built the nest, which is about eight feet off the ground, and vacated it a few days prior
to the cat’s special delivery.
(Fact. In Louth County, Ireland the cat and her kittens were found curled up in the nest by the
owner of a local pet supply store.)
22. Planetary Alignment Affects Gravity
In 1976, Patrick Moore, the British astronomer, explained that Pluto was soon going to briefly
move behind Jupiter and this rare event would affect Earth’s gravity for a brief period. Due to
this once-in-a-lifetime event, the public was encouraged to jump at precisely 9:47 a.m. to
experience the effect more fully. It was even written about in a book called The Jupiter Effect.
(April Fools! This was a spoof promoted by the BBC radio program. However, hundreds
called in to say they did feel a difference when they jumped, and a book does exist that
alleges a planetary alignment would cause earthquakes and practically wipe out a part of
California.)
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 5 of !523. Tree Obstructs Traffic (or Tree Arrested)
A man dressed as a tree decided to stand in the middle of a busy intersection in Portland,
Maine, as an act of performance art. Local police responded to the scene and asked the man
to leave the intersection, but he was arrested after a second attempt to stand in the street.
According to the news report, he had wanted to affect the traffic’s “natural choreography.”
(Fact. CNN reported the man was arrested with a misdemeanor charge.)
24. New Hotheaded Animal Discovered
A new species of animal has been reported by Discover magazine called the hotheaded
naked ice borer. Found in the Antarctic by biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo, the animals are said to
bore through ice at relatively fast speeds. Due to the large boney plate on the top of their
heads and a multitude of blood vessels that feed it, the animals create a hot spot that melts
the ice faster, making it easier to dig through the Antarctic’s frozen landscape.
(April Fools! Published in April of 1995, the animals were even supposedly able to attack
penguins by melting the snow beneath their feet and consuming them from below. The
publication received more feedback on this article than any other in their history—
unfortunately, it was an April Fools’ joke.)
25. Rain-Deflecting Open-Top Car
BMW has engineered a way to keep its sunroofs open even in inclement weather. One of its
engineers, Herr Blöhn, has designed an air jet system that blows hard enough to blast the
water away from the open window, allowing you to enjoy your sunroof year-round.
(April Fools! BMW ran this ad in the UK papers on April 1, 1983. It even stated they should
ask for “Miss April Wurst” from their marketing department.)
26. Who Needs Santa?
In December of 2016, a family received a large dollhouse and four pounds of sugar cookies
from the distributor Amazon, and was charged accordingly. Strangely, neither wife nor
husband had ordered the items. It turns out that their six-year-old daughter, Brooke, asked
the family’s voice-activated Amazon device and corresponding “Alexa” app for the items.
Apparently, once the gadget ordered them for her, the device recorded the little girl saying,
“Alexa, I love you.”
(Fact. This really happened! Not only that, after it was reported on the news, other families
started reporting that their Alexa devices tried ordering the same items after hearing the
television report.)
27. Bees!
In New Zealand, a reported wasp swarm roughly one-mile wide caused residents of the city
of Auckland to take precautions. Many kept indoors, sealing their doors and windows, and
children stayed home from school to avoid them. If residents still intended to go to work that
day, they were encouraged to tuck their pant legs into their socks.
(April Fools! DJ Phil Shone, a New Zealand radio personality, made the whole thing up on
April 1, 1949. Many believed him, though, and stayed indoors. It was several years before the
truth came out.
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 6 of !628. Buckets of Wine
In 1950, Vinmonopolet, Norway’s government-owned wine producer, received a shipment so
large it underestimated its bottle order and ran out of bottles to hold it all. Rather than put
production on hold and lose revenue, they put a front-page ad in the paper encouraging
people to come to the store to get tax-free wine at a largely discounted rate if they brought
their own containers.
(April Fools! Aftenposten, the country’s largest newspaper, did announce this on its front
page, but the long lines of people around the block were very disappointed when the stores
opened and they discovered there was no excess wine.)
29. A Man and His “Dogs”
A gentleman from China’s Yunnan Province bought two
puppies from a Vietnamese man who claimed they
were good watchdogs. He lovingly bathed and groomed
them daily but noticed their appetites grew quickly, and
they were eventually killing and eating live chickens.
Upon seeing a wildlife exhibition two years later, the
man discovered that his dogs were really endangered
black bears.
(Fact. The bears were taken to live safely in a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center after
the man contacted the authorities.)
30. Nixon for President
In 1992, NPR’s Talk of the Nation broadcast the surprising run of Richard Nixon for president
again. While it was depicted as a brief campaign that never took off and fizzled well before
the primaries, many were outraged and called in to express their anger and disbelief.
(April Fools! With various sound clips to back up the story of a comedian impersonating
Nixon, NPR did run this April Fools’ gag, and many did call in quite unhappy. It was
announced in the second half of the program that it was in fact not true. The best part was his
fake campaign slogan, “I didn’t do anything.”)
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Foolery – Page ! 7 of !7Chicken Manure-Powered Don’t Disturb the Squirrels
Electrical Plant
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Fooler (pictures)Bank Teller Fees
Purple Carrots
A Man and his “Dogs”
ActivityConnection.com – Fact or Fooler (pictures)You can also read
